Slicing.. i don't understand

[lhshurdl3r]

I slice my drives quite often from coming "out and in" with my swing and other times frequently it appears to not happen and my drives are straight... i just got a stiffer shaft for my driver and that's appeared to help a bit, but i honestly don't know what to do to stop coming "out and in" with my downswing. any input would be appreciated, thanks.

driver: King Cobra F Speed LD 9.0* Stiff flex

[lamebums]

Stick a tee in the ground about six inches to the left of and two or three inches in front of the ball (relative to your looking at the ball at address, assuming you are right handed). When you swing, try to hit both the ball and the tee. The extension of your left arm through impact should keep you from going to the inside.

Too stiff isn't the problem, I don't think - too stiff usually causes a snap hook (too flex causes pulls).

[lhshurdl3r]

Stick a tee in the ground about six inches to the left of and two or three inches in front of the ball (relative to your looking at the ball at address, assuming you are right handed). When you swing, try to hit both the ball and the tee. The extension of your left arm through impact should keep you from going to the inside.

thanks. having too much flex in my other shaft allowed my hands to get too far ahead of the club head, thus creating an open face on the club (and possibly my grip loosening a little) and creating the slice.

is this good to test out at the range and even try it on the tee during play?

[lamebums]

I saw a guy do that to his playing partner on the course - put a tee in the ground and told him to aim for the tee - and he didn't slice the next shot.

[Sherpat]

I'd never heard of that tee-in-the-ground tip before, but it sounds like a good one. Wish I'd seen a few months ago when I was struggling with the same thing.

I'll tell you what did help me back then: I saw in Golf Magazine - among the thousands of monthly "Cure Your Slice NOW" tips, lol - advice for slicers to place an old glove or clubhead cover under your left armpit and try to swing without letting it drop. They showed a pic of Vijay doing this on the range as part of his normal routine. As soon as I tried this there was a dramatic improvement in my ball flight path. And when my instructor had me reduce my swingthoughts down to just "cross your arms" when I swung a driver (in other words, rotating my right forearm over my left on the follow through), that was it. Ever since, my natural swing is a draw.

Good luck, whatever works for you!

Tom

[WhiteSoxFan]

2 things helped rid me of slice / fade.

1 - make sure you have a strong grip. I can't explain it, but either do some googling on it or buy Ben Hogan's 5 lessons.

2- Hoping Lamebums can help me out. He posted a link to an article on fixing a bunch of stupid things - from golf.com or something. There was one tip in there about your left wrist at the top of your swing. Mine was really cocked back towards my arm. Flattening my wrist got rid of my fade.

[lhshurdl3r]

Thanks everybody, I appreciate the advice I'm headed to the range in a little bit and I'll try the glove in the armpit, and tee in front of the ball. Thanks again!

[lhshurdl3r]

Okay... it was the same old thing at the range today, even when I slowed down my backswing and downswing. I tried the drill with the tee set in front and left of the ball and couldn't manage to hit both of them... a slice would occur or I would just push the ball to the right, then it would slice. I tried the glove in the left armpit and not letting it fall out... still kept slicing it. As weird as it sounds, I wish I could actually afford to get a lesson by somebody somewhere, but I can't (free golf at most places, clubs given to me... so i don't spend much golfing). what the helllll

[hockeylee]

There are a few things that can cause a slice. The more common ones are: You have an outside/inside swing path or leave your club face too open.

Many tips can be found in Golf Magazine or Golf Digest (both way cheaper then private lessons, you can also get complimentary subscriptions as well)

Here are some of the tips that help me when I'm slicing the ball. Imagine the ball as a clock face. You want to hit through the ball (not at it) from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock. This can help to promote the inside/outside swing path (when wanting to hit a draw). The second is to think of the club face as a baseball bat, if you have the bat open you are going to hit to right field (fade), if you have the bat closed you are going to hit to left field (draw), if you have the bat square then it should go right up the middle.

Try to practice this swing at 30%, then gradually increase your swing speed and swing at 60% and finally 90%.

Hope this helps.

[stevestrike]

Lessons were the only thing that have helped me stop/reduce my slice. It comes from not being in the proper position during your backswing, forcing you to reroute the club to get to the ball. Once I got in a good backswing position, swinging "from the inside" was second nature. The other reason is starting the downswing with your upper-body, rather than your hips.

A good teaching pro can help you with this a lot easier than you can figure it out yourself.

Good luck!

[Sherpat]

Oh man, I'm sorry our initial tips didn't help you at the range today, buddy. I wish I knew what to tell you, but I think the other guys are right: lessons are the way to go. There are just so many components to the swing it's often tough to diagnose unless you're a pro.

Like the one gentleman here mentioned, the golf mag websites all offer numerous tips and drills, at least one of which may click with you like the "glove under the armpit" did with me months ago.

Too bad you didn't post this a few weeks ago. The PGA designated May as "Free Lesson Month". Anyone who wanted could get a free lesson from a PGA teaching pro, just for asking. This month, I see that their promotion is "Family Golf Month". They are offering various specials at courses and ranges it looks like from their website - you may want to check them out and see if any of them apply to you. I certainly can sympathise with the tight money issue, but this might be do-able for you.

It's a good site for newbies in general, btw, so you might find it interesting to peruse their various links.

Good luck to you. Keep posting and let us know how it goes!

PGA "Play Golf America" site: http://www.playgolfamerica.com

Tom

[lamebums]

2 things helped rid me of slice / fade.

It was on Golf.com. It was 10 ways to save 6 strokes, or something like that. Try putting that into Google.

[shortgame25]

When the club gets to the back of your swing, let the club drop down naturally, dont force it down. If your are still slicing the you are turning your shoulders and cutting across the ball. So go to the rang and once you set your stance and everything is lined up properly, then when you hit the balls do not have any movement except in your arms, not shoulder turn no body turn maybe not even full swings until you figure it out. Make sure you are letting the club come down on its own. Since your not turning your shoulders across the ball u wont cut it. From there work on your swing to keep your shoulders somewhat more aligned to the target at impact. I am left handed, but if you right handed when you swing the club, it might feel wierd at first, but at impact you make sure your right shoulder stays back and they dont rotate to soon, and when you impact the ball make sure to then complete your swing. Let me know how it goes okay.

[getinthehole]

Lessons helped me on my slice, and now it's stopped, or if not it's only a slight slice. It's like most people have said. I can't really add any more.

[vikingjunior]

It could be the ball to far back in your stance. Move the ball more forward it gives the club a chance to come around.

[sonicblue]

Two things really help me when I can't seem to get the club through impact:

1) Relaxing the right arm at the top of your backswing: Tension in the right arm tends to inhibit wrist movement, so it's hard for them to hinge/unhinge naturally. Also, the club tends to stay "out" in mid-air, instead of settling nicely into "the slot" of the downswing.

2) Feel the upper part of your left arm (for RH swingers) getting pushed through impact by your left pectoral (chest) muscle: When the right arm is tense, the arms (and club) get too far away from the torso, and the downswing tends to be all arms. This feeling reminds me to have the torso, shoulders and arms all coming through together.

Moves #1 and #2 coupled together helped me swing more relaxed, on plane and in sync, which inevitably leads to the club releasing, and squaring up, through impact. HTH.

[Mr Driver]

can a stiff shaft help stop slicing?
You lose distance though!

[lhshurdl3r]

can a stiff shaft help stop slicing?

Stiff helped my slice lighten up a bit, whereas with a regular shaft I sliced about 99% of my shots (may have been mental, but whatever it works). I tried out a Mizuno MX500 yesterday and focused on kind of rolling my hands on my backswing and somehow that helped GREATLY. I was able to swing the club a lot faster than the Cobra F Speed I've been using and it felt as if I had more control over the club with the normal shaped/smaller head.